Mobile device with applications that use a common place card to display data relating to a location

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a map with selectable indications pertaining to a location within the map. In response to detecting selection of the selectable indication, a place card providing particular information pertaining to the location is rendered in the GUI.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit U.S. application Ser. No.16/105,752, filed on Aug. 20, 2018, which claims benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/645,870, filed on Jul. 10, 2017, which claimsbenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/292,786, filed on May 30, 2014,which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/893,130filed on Oct. 18, 2013 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application61/938,474, filed on Feb. 11, 2014. These patent applications areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The mobile device industry has been growing for a number of years. Withthe growth, there are an increasing number of applications. One of theproblems with such increasing number is that different applications aredisplaying data relating to a same entity, such a location. As anexample, if a person wishes to go to a movie theatre to catch a movie,then the person may have to open up multiple different applications toview different pieces of data relating to the same movie theatre. Theperson may have to open up a movie showtime application to check whatmovies are playing at the movie theatre. If the person needs drivingdirections to the movie theatre, then the person may have to open up amaps application. If the person wants to see what other people aresaying about the movie theatre, then the person has to open up abusiness review application. This makes it very inconvenient for theperson who has to navigate between different pages or views of not oneapplication but several different applications in order to view datarelating to the same place.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein provide a mobile computing device thatincludes a number of different applications having a common display areato display data relating to a location. In some embodiments, the commondisplay area is a unified display area to display different types ofdata. Examples of the different types of data include informationregarding the location (e.g., address, phone number, etc.), multimediaassociated with the location (e.g., video, photos), user feedbacksregarding the location (e.g., reviews), a catalog associated with thelocation (e.g., a menu, movie showtimes, schedule of events), socialnetwork data (e.g., social network posts, photos, video clips), etc. Insome embodiments, the unified common display area 10 is also referred toas a place card because it presents data relating to a place.

In some embodiments, the different types of applications include acontacts application that uses the common place card as a contact cardfor that location. The applications may include a maps application thatdisplays the common place card when a person selects the location from amap. The applications may include a phone application that displays thecommon place card when a person selects a recent phone call made withthe mobile device. The applications may include a message applicationthat displays the common place card when a person selects arepresentation of the location from a message (e.g., a text message).The applications may include a third-party application that displays thecommon place card when a person selects an affordance to view datarelating to the location.

In some embodiments, the applications of the mobile device share a localcache to display place cards relating to different locations. Anapplication may retrieve data from the local cache using a uniqueidentifier (ID). In some embodiments, the unique ID is a point ofinterest ID. In some embodiments, the unique ID is a telephone number.Different applications may use different types of unique IDs to retrievedata from the local cache. If the data is not stored in the local cache,the application of some embodiments retrieves the data from one or moredata servers.

The preceding Summary is intended to serve as a brief introduction tosome embodiments as described herein. It is not meant to be anintroduction or overview of all subject matter disclosed in thisdocument. The Detailed Description that follows and the Drawings thatare referred to in the Detailed Description will further describe theembodiments described in the described by this document, a full reviewof the Summary, Detailed Description and the Drawings is needed.Moreover, the claimed subject matters are not to be limited by theillustrative details in the Summary, Detailed Description and theDrawings, but rather are to be defined by the appended claims, becausethe claimed subject matters can be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit of the subject matters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features as described here are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purposes of explanation, several embodiments areset forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a place card that displays variousdifferent types of 5 data relating to a location.

FIG. 2 provides an illustrative example of a contacts application thatuses a place card to display data relating to a location.

FIG. 3 provides an illustrative example of a phone application that usesa place card to display data relating to a location.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a third-party application that uses aplace card to display data relating to a location.

FIG. 5 presents a state diagram that illustrates several exampleoperations performed by an application to display a place card.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a person sharing a location through atext message.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a person selecting a a locationrepresentation in a text message to open a place card relating to thelocation.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates an example process that some embodimentsimplement to share a location in a message.

FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates an example process that some embodimentsimplement to display a place card of a shared location.

FIG. 10A shows a person opening up a place card of a location using acontacts application to review the location's catalog.

FIG. 10B shows the same place card being reopened to show an updatedcatalog.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a place card that shows a map.

FIG. 12 provides an illustrative example of customizing a place cardpage.

FIG. 13 shows an example of adding a new contact using a mapsapplication.

FIG. 14 shows an example of adding data to an existing contact.

FIG. 15 presents a state diagram that illustrates several exampleprocesses performed by a maps application to save a location as a newcontact or add data to an existing contact.

FIG. 16 provides an illustrative example of a phone application thatdisplays the name associated with a location even though that locationis not in a contacts list.

FIG. 17 provides an illustrative example of a phone application thatdisplays the name of location in a recent call list even though thelocation is not in a contacts list.

FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates an example process that someembodiments implement to display data relating to a phone call.

FIG. 19 provides an illustrative example of system for retrieving datafrom a set of servers and displaying place cards using the retrieveddata.

FIG. 20 is an example of an architecture of a mobile computing device.

FIG. 21 conceptually illustrates another example of an electronic systemwith which some embodiments of the invention are implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerousdetails, examples, and embodiments of the invention are set forth anddescribed. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in theart that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth andthat the invention may be practiced without some of the specific detailsand examples discussed.

Embodiments described herein provide a mobile computing device thatincludes a number of applications having a common display area todisplay data relating to a location. In some embodiments, the commondisplay area is a unified display area to display different types ofdata. Examples of the different types of data include informationregarding the location (e.g., 10 address, phone number, etc.),multimedia associated with the location (e.g., video, photos), userfeedbacks regarding the location (e.g., reviews), a catalog associatedwith the location (e.g., a menu, movie showtimes, schedule of events),social network data (e.g., social network posts, photos, video clips),etc. In some embodiments, the unified common display area is alsoreferred to as a place card because it presents data relating to aplace.

For some embodiments of the invention, FIG. 1 illustrates an example ofa place card that displays various different types of data relating to alocation. In particular, the figure shows a person interacting with amaps application 185 on the person's mobile device 100 to display aplace card page 145. The example is illustrated in terms of four stages105-120 of operation of the mobile device 100. In this example, as wellas many other examples below, the mobile device 100 is a smart phone.However, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that thediscussion in this example as well as other examples discussedhereinafter is equally applicable to other kinds of mobile devices(e.g., a tablet, a smart watch, laptop, etc.) or any other electronicdevices (e.g., a digital media player appliances, a gaming system,etc.).

As illustrated in these stages 105-120, the mobile device 100 has atouch-sensitive screen. The touch-sensitive screen displays a home page175 on which application icons can be selected and arranged, andoverlaying the page is a dock 180 on which icons of several otherapplications can be selected and arranged. A user of the mobile devicecan touch-select an application icon to open or switch to a previouslyopened application, and can make other gestures to navigate betweendifferent display areas (e.g., application pages, home page screens,etc.).

The first stage 105 illustrates the user selecting a maps icon 125 toopen the maps application. In particular, the stage 105 shows that thehome page 175 includes icons to open a messages application, a contactsapplication, and the maps application. In opening the maps applications,the user performs a touch-based gesture on the device's touch screendisplay by tapping the user's finger over the maps icon 125 on the homepage 175.

As illustrated in the second stage 110, the touch-based gesture causesthe maps application 185 to be opened on the mobile device 100. Thesecond stage 110 also shows that the user has performed a search of alocation with the maps application 185. As shown, the user has inputtedthe name of a location (e.g., a point of interest) into a search field130 and directed the maps application 185 to show a map with thelocation. The maps application 185 has performed the search and hasgenerated a display of a map page 190 with the location. The location isa place of business, namely a restaurant. However, the location can beany different location. For instance, the location can be recreationalarea (e.g., a park, a beach), a building, a structure (e.g., a parkinglot), etc. The location can even be a mall that has several businesses.

Referring to the second stage 110, the map page 190 includes a pin 135that points to the restaurant. Above the pin is a banner 140 thatdisplay several pieces of information related to the location. The usermight have selected the pin to display the banner. The banner 140 showsan estimated time to reach the restaurant by car, the name of therestaurant, the user rating associated with the restaurant. Here, theuser taps the user's finger over the banner on the device's touch screendisplay. The touch gesture causes the maps application 185 to present aplace card page 145, as illustrated in the third stage 115.

The third stage 115 shows the device 100 displaying the place card page145 on the touch-sensitive screen. The place card page is shown with atop bar 195 that includes two affordances (e.g., selectable items) toreturn to a previous view and to share the location, respectively. Insome embodiment, the place card page is a unified display area todisplay different types of data relating to the location. For instance,the third stage 115 shows that the place card page 145 includes variousdifferent sections 150-170. Each section includes some group of datarelating to the restaurant.

In some embodiments, the sections of the place card page 145 are orderedto show a first group of data that a person would most likely beinterested in at the top of the place card page 145, followed by thenext most likely group, and so forth. In some embodiments, the firstsection 150 represents a virtual stage 150, which present several keypieces of information about the location. As an example, the virtualstages 150 shows (1) the name of the restaurant, (2) the estimatedtravel distance to the restaurant from the current location (e.g., ofthe mobile device), (3) the city where the restaurant is located, (4)the price range associated with the restaurant, (5) the number ofreviews associated with the restaurant, and (6) the restaurant's hoursof operation.

In some embodiments, the virtual stage 150 shows a set of one or morephotos associated with the restaurant. One or more photos may be shownas background images in the virtual stage. Each photo might have beenuploaded to a server (e.g., a business review service server) by aperson that visited the location. In conjunction with one or morephotos, or instead of them, the virtual stage 150 of some embodimentsdisplays one or more video clip. In some embodiments, the virtual stage150 shows a map. For instance, if a location is not associated with anyphotos, the virtual stage of some embodiments shows a map. The map canbe a flyover 3D image of the location, a street view of the location, asatellite image, or some other type of map that shows the location.

The third stage 115 also shows a second section 155 that includesgeneral information regarding the business. The information section 155include (1) a phone number of the restaurant, (2) a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or a web address of the restaurant's website, and (3) aphysical address of the restaurant. The information section 155 showsthat the place card of some embodiments is a staging area to displayadditional data. For instance, the information section includes one ormore affordances (e.g., selectable items, links) to display drivingdirections (e.g., directions to the location, directions from thelocation).

The third stage 115 also shows a following third section 160 thatincludes a catalog associated with the location. The catalog representsa list of items associated with the location. The items can be what thelocation is offering for sale. For instance, a catalog of a vendingmachine includes items that are dispensed by the vending machine. Thecatalog 160 can change depending on what the location is offering. Aplace can also be associated with multiple catalogs. For instance, aplace may offer multiple different types of items, such as food andother tangible goods. As another example, a mall can include number ofcatalogs featuring item from some of its stores.

The catalog can include services. Further, the catalog can includeevents. For instance, a movie theatre's catalog can include movieshowtimes. A stadium's catalog can include sporting events, concerts,shows, etc. In some embodiments, the place card page providesaffordances (e.g., buttons) to purchase items from the page or tonavigate to another page to purchase the items. In the example of thethird stage 115, the catalog is the restaurant's menu. The menu 160lists various menu items along with a price for each item.

The fourth stage 120 shows that the place card page 145 includesadditional sections 165 and 170. To display these additional sections,the user has performed a touch gesture on the touch screen display toscroll the place card page. Specifically, the user has placed a fingeron the touch screen display and dragged the finger up the screen. Thegesture caused the place card page to scroll up in accord with themovement of the finger and reveal these sections. The sections include afourth section 165 with a number of reviews and a fifth section 170 witha number of photos.

The review section 165 shows user reviews. In the example of the fourthstage 120, the review section 165 includes a review heading. Next to thereview heading is a number that identifies the number of reviewsassociated with the restaurant. Underneath the heading are severalreviews. Each review is listed with a rating (e.g. a star rating), areview, and the name of person that reviewed the location. One ofordinary skill in the art would understand that the presentation of thereviews in the fourth stage 120 is an example presentation and that thereviews can be presented differently. For instance, each review might belisted with the date of the review, the number of people that found thereview helpful, a follow-up review, etc. The sorting of the reviews maybe customizable. The sorting of the reviews may be based on feedbacksfrom other people regarding the reviews, the date of the review, etc.

In some embodiments, the place card only shows a few of the reviews andprovides an option to show additional reviews. For instance, in thefourth stage 120, the review section 165 only lists three reviews. Theuser can tap on a selectable item or a link to display additionalreviews. For instance, if the user wishes to view additional reviews,the user can tap his or her finger on the touch screen display over thetext 152 that states, “More reviews”. In some embodiments, the selectionof such item causes the place card to expand (e.g., vertically) anddisplay additional reviews. In some embodiments, the place card providesan affordance to download all data objects, such as reviews.

In some embodiments, the place card page 145 shows social network data.For instance, the place card may include a separate section that listssocial network posts. The data can come from different social networkservice providers. For instance, the place card can include one set ofposts from one social network service and another set of posts fromanother social network service.

As shown in the fourth stage 120, the last section 170 shows severalphotos associated with the location. In some embodiments, the photosrepresent the ones uploaded to a set of servers by different people thatvisited the location. The set of servers may be maintained by a businessreview service provider, a social network service provider, a photosharing service provider, or a microblog service provider. In someembodiments, the place card page shows thumbnail representations ofphotos. In some embodiments, the thumbnail representations can beselected to open larger (e.g., full-screen) representations of the samephotos.

Similar to the review section 165, the photo section 170 includes aheading. Next to the photo heading is a number that identifies thenumber of photos associated with the restaurant. Also, similar to thereview section, the photo section 170 might not show all photos but onlya few photos with an option to display additional photos. The sorting ofthe photos may be customizable. The sorting of the photos may be basedon feedbacks from other people regarding the photos, the date of thephotos, etc. In the example of the fourth stage 120, the first photo isthe same as the one shown in the first section 150 (e.g., in the virtualstage).

In conjunction with photos or instead of them, the place card page 145of some embodiments displays video clips. The video clips can be shownin the same section as the photos. Alternatively, the place card page145 can include a separate section to display video clips. Similar tothe photos, the video clips can be from one or more different dataservice providers (e.g., a business review service provider, a socialnetwork service provider, a photo sharing service provider, a microblogservice provider, etc.).

In the example described above, the place card 145 shows at least someinformation in each section. The user does not have to navigate betweendifferent tabs or pages to view these different items. They are allavailable on one place card. This is important from a data transferstandpoint because not all data need to be downloaded from one or moreservers to show the place card. If a section does not list all items,there is an option to show more items. The selection of such option mayexpand the place card to display more items. Alternatively, theselection of such item may cause the application to display anotherpage.

As mentioned above, the place card of some embodiments is a commondisplay area. This means that the same or similar place card is shown intwo or more different applications running on a mobile device. In theexample described above, the application with the place card is a mapsapplication.

FIG. 2 provides an illustrative example of a contacts application thatuses a place card to display data relating to a location. Specially,this figure shows that the contacts application of some embodiments hasreplaced a contact card user interface (UI) with a place card (UI). Four5 operations stages 205-220 of the mobile device 100 are shown in thefigure. The mobile device 100 is the same as the one described above byreference to FIG. 1.

The first stage 205 illustrates the user selecting a contacts icon 225from the home page 175 to open the contacts application. As shown in thesecond stage 210, the selection of the contacts icon causes the mobiledevice 100 to open the contacts application 250 and display a contactslist page 230 or an address book page. The contacts list page 230 listsseveral contacts, including a contact 235 for a business entity. Thebusiness entity is the same restaurant shown in FIG. 1. To display dataassociated with the contact, in the second stage 210 of FIG. 2, the userselects the contact 235 from the contacts list page 230.

The third stage 215 illustrates that the selection of the contact 235resulted in the display of a contacts page 245. Here, the contactsapplication uses a place card page 245 as its contact page. In otherwords, the contacts application replaces a user editable contact formpage with a place card page. As will be described below by reference toFIG. 10, unlike a typical static contact card, the place card isautomatically updated without any user input when there is an update inthe data associated with the location.

The third and fourth stages 215 and 220 show that the place card page245 is similar to the one described above by reference to FIG. 1. Theplace card page 245 includes a virtual stage, an information section, amenu section, a review section, and a photo section. Different from theFIG. 1, the place card page includes an affordance to edit or modify theplace card page. The affordance is shown on a top bar 240. This top bar240 also includes an affordance to return to the contacts list page 230.

In the preceding example, the contacts application shows data relatingto a location in a place card. FIG. 3 provides an illustrative exampleof a phone application that uses a place card to display data relatingto a location. Specially, this figure shows that a person can access theplace card by selecting an item from a page that lists recent calls.Four operations stages 305-320 of the mobile device 100 are shown in thefigure. The mobile device is the same as the one described above byreference to FIG. 1.

The first stage 305 illustrates the user selecting a phone icon 330 fromthe dock 180 to open the phone application. As shown in the second stage310, the selection of the phone icon 330 causes the mobile device 100 toopen the phone application 355. The phone application is showing akeypad page 360 to input a phone number to make a phone call. The keypadpage 360 is shown with a bottom bar 350 that includes an affordance(e.g., a selectable item 335) to view recent calls made with the mobiledevice.

In the second stage 310, the user directs the mobile device to displaythe list of recent calls by tapping a finger over the device'stouch-screen display over the selectable item 335. As shown in the thirdstage 315, the touch-based gesture causes the mobile device 100 todisplay a recent call page 365 with a list of recent calls. In thisexample, each phone call is shown with a name or a phone number, thetype of phone number (e.g., a business number, a home number, mobilenumber, unknown, etc.), and the date of the phone call (e.g., yesterday,Monday, Tuesday, etc.). A phone call may also be listed with a symbol oricon that indicates whether the phone call is a missed call or not.

The recent call page 365 of some embodiments lists each recent call withan affordance to display additional information regarding an entityassociated with the phone call. For instance, in the example of thethird stage 315, the recent call page 365 includes a selectable item 370(e.g., an information button) next to each phone call. In someembodiments, the selection of the selectable item causes the phoneapplication to show a place card or a contact card that displays datarelating to an entity (e.g., a person, a business, etc.).

In the third stage 315, the user selects the selectable item 370 bytapping a finger on the device's touch-screen display over theselectable item. The fourth stage 320 illustrates that the selection ofthe selectable item 370 resulted in the display of a place card page345. The place card page 345 is similar to the ones described above byreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The place card page includes a virtualstage, an information section, a menu section, a review section, etc.

In the example described above, the phone application is used to displaya place card relating to a location. In some embodiments, the phoneapplication displays such a place card regardless of whether thelocation is stored as a contact in a contacts list (e.g., a contactsdatabase). To display the place card, the phone application of someembodiments accesses a local cache that is shared with one or more otherapplications.

In some embodiments, the phone application searches the local cacheusing a phone number. For instance, the phone application may search thelocal cache to determine if a group of data is associated with the samephone number. If so, the phone application retrieves the group of datato present a place card with that data. Several examples of retrievingdata from a shared local cache are described below by reference to FIG.6.

In some embodiments, the application with the common unified displayarea is a first party application. The first-party application is anapplication provided by a developer of the mobile device operatingsystem (OS). Some first party applications come pre-installed with themobile OS. In the examples described above, the maps application, thecontacts application, and the phone application are all first-partyapplications.

Some embodiments provide application development tools (e.g., a set ofapplication programming interfaces (APis) and/or a set of frameworks)that application developers can use to implement the place card featurefor their respective applications. Accordingly, in some embodiments, theapplication with the common unified display area is a third partyapplication. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a third-party applicationthat uses a place card to display data 15 relating to a location. Fouroperations stages 405-420 of the mobile devices 100 are shown in thefigure. The mobile device is the same as the one described above byreference to FIG. 1.

As shown in the first stage 405, the home page 175 includes an icon 435to open a thirdparty application. In this example, the third-partyapplication is application to find music records. To open theapplication, the user selects the icon 435 from the home page 175.

The second stage 410 shows the mobile device 100 after opening thethird-party application 440. The application 440 shows a record storefinder page 475 that displays a list of the nearest record stores. Theuser has reviewed the list and has selected the first item 425 from thelist. The third stage 415 shows that the selection resulted in theapplication displaying a place card page 430. As the location is arecord store, the place card page 430 shows various different types ofdata relating to the record store. For instance, the place card page 430includes a virtual stage 445 to display several key pieces ofinformation relating to the record store and an information section 450to display general information. The place card page 430 also includesits own special section 455 with dynamic data associated with the recordstore. In this example, the section 455 shows a few of its best sellersas a well as a list of current or new releases. As mentioned above, thedifferent types of data shown in a place card depends on the location.For instance, a place card for a bus station or a train station mayinclude such dynamic data as transit stop times, a place card for anairport may include a flight schedule, a place card for a wellknownplace (e.g., a landmark, a lake, a public park, etc.) may include adescription (e.g., a short description or summary) from Wikipedia, etc.

In the third stage 415, the user places a finger on the device's touchscreen display. In the fourth stage 420, the user performs a touchgesture on the touch screen to scroll the place card page 430. Thegesture causes the touch screen display to show additional sections 465and 470 in the place card page. Specifically, it shows a review sectionthat includes a number of reviews and a social media section thatincludes one or more posts from one or more social networks.

Many more examples of presenting place cards are described below.Specifically, Section I describes examples operations performed by eachof several applications to present data relating to a location in aplace card. This is followed by Section II, which describes how a placecard view can be shared across multiple different devices. Section IIIthen describes an example of how a place card of a location isdynamically updated with a change in the data associated with thelocation. Section IV then describes operations of a phone to display aplace card. Section IV also describes how the phone application showsthe name of a location even though the location's phone number is notstored in a contacts list. Section V then describes a system forretrieving data from a set of servers. Finally, Section VI describeselectronic systems for implementing some embodiments of the invention.

I. Example Operations

Having described several example applications, examples operationsperformed by one or more of these applications to display a place cardwill now be described. FIG. 5 presents a state 500 diagram thatillustrates several example operations performed by an application todisplay a place card. This figure shows eight states 505-540 thatcollectively perform these operations. Each of the states represents aset of one or more processes for performing a subset of the operations.

The eight states are a load application state 505, a waiting state 510,a search local cache state 515, a retrieve data state 520, a store datastate 525, a display place card state 530, a perform other operationsstate 535, and a close application state 540. The load application state505 represents a set of processes running on a device to load theapplication. In some embodiments, the application enters this state whena user selects an application icon from a homepage or a dock.

As show in FIG. 5, once the application is loaded, the application ofsome embodiments transitions to a waiting state 510. At this state, theapplication is listening for different events. Different applicationscan be listening for different events. For instance, a maps applicationmay be awaiting user input to navigate to a page with a place card,switch to a 3D flyover map, switch to a navigation mode, etc. A calendarapplication may be awaiting user input to create a new scheduled event,edit an existing event, etc.

When an input is received to display a place card relating to alocation, the application transitions to the search local cache state515. At this state, the application performs a set of processes tosearch the local cache and retrieve data relating to the location. Insome embodiments, the local cache is a shared local cache. This meansthat several applications are updating and sharing same data in thecache.

In some embodiments, the local cache is searched using a uniqueidentifier (ID) or key. In some embodiments, the unique ID is a point ofinterest ID. The application of some embodiments uses a phone number asa unique ID. In some embodiments, different applications use differentunique identifiers to access the same data stored in the cache. Theamount of time a group of data persists in the cache can be based on oneor more different criteria. It could be based on a timestamp associatedwith the group. For instance, the group of data may be retained in thecache for a number of hours, one or more days, months, etc. In someembodiments, data may be removed from the cache if the cache is full orclose to being full.

As shown in FIG. 5, if data relating to the location is stored in thelocal cache, the application transitions to the display place card state530. At this state, the application performs a set of processes todisplay a place card. In particular, the application retrieves data fromthe cache and generates a view of the data.

If data relating to the locating is not stored in the cache, theapplication transitions to the retrieve data state 520. At this state,the application performs a set of processes to retrieve data relating tothe location from a set of one or more servers. In some embodiments, theapplication uses one or more application programming interfaces (APis)and/or frameworks to retrieve data from the set of servers. Uponreceiving the data from the set of servers, the process transitions tothe store data state 525. Here, the application performs a set ofprocesses to store data in the local cache. Once the data is stored, theapplication transitions to the display place card state 530, which isdescribed above.

Different application may perform different operations. For instance, amaps application may perform a number different tasks that a musicplayer application may not be able to perform, and vice versa.Accordingly, the state diagram includes the perform other operationsstate 535. At this state 535, the application performs a set ofprocesses to perform such different 5 tasks. Finally, when an input toclose the application is received, the application transitions to theclose application state 540. Here, the application performs a set ofprocesses to close the application. For instance, depending onapplication, the application might perform one or more processes to savethe state of the application.

One of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the state diagram 500simplifies the operations of the application for purposes of thehighlighting the display of a place card. This is because differentapplications can perform various different operations. Thus, the statediagram focuses on retrieving data from a local cache and from a set ofservers if the data is not stored in the cache. The state diagram alsofocuses on how the application uses the retrieved data to present theplace card. One of ordinary skill in the art will also realize that thedifferent applications have different states or different statetransitions as they operate differently.

II. Sharing Locations

The application of some embodiments provides tools to a share a locationthrough a message. In some embodiments, the message includes aselectable item (e.g., a link or a representation of the location) thatwhen selected causes a place card to appear. Several 20 examples of suchsharing operations will now be described by reference to FIGS. 6-9.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a person sharing a location through atext message. In this example, the sender of the text message is aperson named John, and the recipient of the text message is a personnamed Emily. The example shows the same mobile device 100 as describedabove by reference to FIG. 1. Five operational stages 605-625 of themobile device 100 are 25 shown in the figure.

The first three stages 605-615 are identical to the ones shown inFIG. 1. Specifically, in the first stage of FIG. 6, the user selects themaps icon 125 from the home page 175. The second stage 610 shows theuser selecting the banner 140 that shows information relating to alocation. The selection cause the maps application to display the placecard 145, as illustrated in the third stage 615.

In the third stage 615, the user selects the affordance 630 (e.g., ashare button) from the top bar 195 to share the location. The fourthstage 620 shows that the selection resulted in the display of a sharetool. The share tool 635 includes several affordances (e.g., buttons) toshare the location through different channels. For instance, the sharetool includes affordances to share the location via text message, email,a social network post, and a micro blog. The share tool also includes anaffordance to share the location with any nearby device. The user canalso use the tool to bookmark the location. At the bottom of the tool,there is also a cancel button that can be selected to close the toolwithout sharing the location.

In the fourth stage 620, the user selects the affordance 640 to sharethe location via a text message. The fourth stage 620 shows that themobile device has generated a text message 645. The text message 645includes a thumbnail representation 650 of a map that shows thelocation. Here, the user has already specified a phone number or thename of the recipient of the text message, and typed in text for thebody of text message. To send the text message, the user selects a sendbutton 655.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a person selecting a locationrepresentation in a text message to open a place card relating to thelocation. Three operational stages 705-715 of recipient's mobile device700 are shown in FIG. 7. The first stage 705 shows that the text messagefrom the sender has been received at the mobile device 700.Specifically, the message application icon 720 is shown with a badge725. The badge 725 provides a visual indication that there is one newtext message. To display the new text message, the user of the mobiledevice 700 selects the application icon.

The second stage 710 shows the user selecting a selectable item in thetext message to display a place card. As shown, the message application740 has been opened. The message application 740 is displaying the textmessage. In the example of the second stage 710, the text message isshown in a chat bubble 730. The text message includes a thumbnailrepresentation 745 of the map showing the shared location. The textmessage also includes a message inputted by the sender.

In the second stage 710, the user selects the thumbnail representation745 by tapping a finger on the mobile device's touch screen display overthe thumbnail representation. The third stage 715 shows that theselection of the representation caused the application to display aplace card 735. The place card is the same as the one described above byreference to FIG. 1. It shows various different types of data relatingto the shared location.

In the example described above, the user selects a thumbnailrepresentation in a text message to display the place card 735. In someembodiments, the application 740 provides other means to open a placecard from a text message. For instance, the application might displaythe text message with a different selectable item or a link. Also, inthe example descried above, the location is shared through text message(e.g., iMessage). One of ordinary skill in the art would understand thatthe example is equally applicable to other messaging applications, suchas a chatting application, an email application, an instant messagingapplication, a social network application with messaging features, etc.

Having described example of sharing a location, several processes willnow be described by reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 conceptuallyillustrates an example process 800 that some embodiments implement toshare a location in a message. This is followed by FIG. 9, whichconceptually illustrates an example process that some embodimentsimplement to display a place card of a shared location.

In some embodiments, the process 800 of FIG. 8 is performed by anapplication on the sender's mobile device. The application can be anyapplication that can be used to share a location. The process 800 beginswhen it receives (at 805) input to share a location via a message. Theprocess 800 then adds (at 810) a location representation to the message.In the example of FIG. 7, the location representation is a thumbnailimage with a map showing the location. In conjunction with the thumbnailimage or instead of it, the location representation may show a differentrepresentation or text link.

As shown in FIG. 8, the process 800 identifies (at 815) a uniqueidentifier (ID) that is associated with the location. In someembodiments, the unique identifier is a point of interest (POI) ID. Theprocess 800 then associates the unique ID with the locationrepresentation. At 820, the process adds any message input from thesender. The process 800 then sends (at 820) the message. The process 800then ends.

Some embodiments perform variations on the process 800. The specificoperations of the process 800 may not be performed in the exact ordershown and described. The specific operations may not be performed in onecontinuous series of operations, and different specific operations maybe performed in different embodiments. Further, the process 800 could beimplemented using several sub-processes, or as part of a larger macroprocess.

FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates an example process 900 that someembodiments implement to display a place card of a shared location. Insome embodiments, the process is performed by an application. Theapplication can be any application that is capable of receivingmessages, such as a text message application (e.g., for SMS message,iMessage), an email application, an instant application, a socialnetwork application with messaging capabilities, etc.

The process 900 begins when it receives (at 905) a message. The process900 then determines (at 910) whether to display the message. Forinstance, the process may be listening 10 for user input to display themessage. If the determination is made to display the message, theprocess displays (at 915) the message with the location representation.Otherwise, the process 900 ends.

After displaying the message, the process 900 then determines (at 820)if it received a selection of a location representation in the message.If the location representation has not been selected, the process ends.However, if the location representation has been selected, the process800 identifies (at 925) the unique ID that is associated with the sharedlocation. As mentioned above, the unique ID can be a POI ID that isassociated with the location.

After identifying the unique identifier, the process 900 then uses (at930) the unique identifier to retrieve data relating to the location. Insome embodiments, the process 900 first 20 examines a local cache toretrieve the data. If the data is not stored in the cache, the process900 of some embodiments retrieves data from a set of one or moreservers. The process 900 might retrieve (at 930) the data from the setof servers if the data stored in the local cache is outdated. Theprocess 900 then displays (at 935) a place card using the retrieveddata. The process 900 then ends.

Some embodiments perform variations on the process 900. The specificoperations of the process 900 may not be performed in the exact ordershown and described. The specific operations may not be performed in onecontinuous series of operations, and different specific operations maybe performed in different embodiments. Further, the process 900 could beimplemented using several sub-processes, or as part of a larger macroprocess.

III. Example Placecard Features

Several example features of the place card of some embodiments will nowbe described by reference to FIGS. 10-12.

A. Dynamic Updates to Place Cards

Similar to a traditional contact card, the place card of someembodiments display information relating to a location. The place cardcan include a name, one or more phone numbers, a uniform resourcelocator, an email address, a photo, etc. Different from a contact card,the place card of some embodiments is a unified place card in that itcan display other types of data, such as a catalog (e.g., a menu, etc.),multimedia media (e.g., photos, video clips) from a one or more servers,and user reviews. Also, different from a contact card, the place cardmay be updated each time there is an update to the data relating to thelocation.

FIG. 10 provides an illustrative example of how a place card is updatedin accord with an update to data relating to a location. Specifically,FIG. 10A shows a person opening up a place card for the location using acontacts application to review the location's catalog. This is followedby FIG. 10B, which shows the same place card being opened to show anupdated catalog.

Two operational stages 1005 and 1010 of the mobile device 100 are shownin FIG. 10A. The mobile device 100 is the same as the one describedabove by reference to FIG. 1. In the first stage 1005, the contactsapplication has been opened to display a list of contacts 230. As shown,the user selects a contact 1040, which represents a location, from thelist of contacts.

The second stage 1010 shows that the contacts page 1025 for the locationis implemented using a place card. The place card 1025 is similar to theone described above by reference to FIG. 1. However, the place card 1025displays a map 1050 in the virtual stage 1030. The map is a 3D flyoverimage of the movie theatre. In addition, instead of a restaurant menu,the place card 1025 shows a listing of events 1055. Since the locationis a movie theatre, the events are movie showtimes. The movie listing1055 includes two movies labeled with numbers one and two, respectively.Each movie is listed with an option 1035 to purchase tickets.

FIG. 10B shows the same place card being opened up once again. In thefirst stage 1015, the contacts application has been opened to displaythe list of contacts 230. As shown, the user selects the same contact1040 from the list. The second stage 1020 shows that the place card 1025for the location has been dynamically updated. In particular, the placecard 1025 has an updated listing of movie showtimes. For instance, thesecond stage shows that two movies, which are labeled with numbers threeand four movies, have replaced the movies labeled with numbers one andtwo.

In the example described above, the schedule of events is automaticallyupdated without any user input. Alternatively, the place card of someembodiments may show updates to other sections. As an example, the placecard may show updates to the virtual stage, the information section, thereview section, the multimedia section, etc.

In some embodiments, the contacts application uses the same or similarprocesses as the ones described above by reference to FIG. 8. Forinstance, the contacts application may use a shared local cache todisplay place cards. If the data is not available in the shared localcache, the contact application may retrieve data from one or moreservers. In some embodiments, the contacts application first loads(e.g., reads) contact data from a contact storage (e.g., database) andthen loads location data from the shared local cache to displayadditional data. The contact application may load location data when aperson selects the contact from the list.

B. In-Line Map

The place card of some embodiments presents a map. The map may bepresented in-line 15 in a particular section of the place card page. Insome embodiments, the map section is shown in one or more differentapplications other than the maps application. For instance, a place cardpage for the contacts application or the phone application may includean in-line map; however, a place card page of the maps application maynot include the in-line map. In addition, the map can be any differenttype of maps, including a 2D map, 3D map, a 3D flyover map, etc.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a place card that shows a map. Threeoperational stages 1105-1115 of the mobile device 100 are shown in thefigure. The first two stages 1105 and 1110 are identical to one shown inFIG. 2. However, in the third stage 1115, the place card page 1120 isshown with a map 1125. The map 1125 fills a section of the place cardpage 1120. In some embodiments, the selection of the map 1125 causes amaps application to be opened. For instance, the selection of the map1125 may result in the maps application opening to a full screen mapshowing the location.

C. Customizing Place Cards

In some embodiments, the place card can be customized to displaydifferent types of data. As an example, a local client may be allowed toadd one or more different custom views. In some embodiments, the viewsmay be added to any chosen location (e.g., at the top of the place cardbelow the virtual stage, middle of the place card, bottom of the placecard, etc.).

FIG. 12 provides an illustrative example of customizing a place cardpage. Three operational stages 1205-1215 of the mobile device 100 areshown in the figure. These stages are continuations of the ones shown inthe previous figure. The first stage 1205 shows the mobile displayingthe place card page 1120 on its touch screen display. In the first stage1205, the user 5 performs a touch gesture on the touch-screen display toscroll the place card page 1120.

The second stage 1210 shows the mobile device 100 after scrolling to thebottom of the place card page 1120. In particular, the place card pageincludes several affordances 1220 and 1225 to customize the place card.In this example, the place card page includes an affordance 1220 to adda call log to the page. The place card of some embodiments includes aset of other affordances 1225 (e.g., selectable items, check boxes,etc.) to add or remove different sections (e.g., review section, socialmedia section, photos section, etc.) from the place card page. The placecard page may include affordances to rearrange different sections. Insome embodiments, the edits to a place card are not global changes butonly affect the place card for a particular location. Alternatively, theapplication of some embodiments provides tools to apply the changes to agroup of place cards or all place cards. In some embodiments, thecustomization feature is only available to application developers. Forinstance, a third party developer can choose to add the call log or someother data type (e.g., using a set of AP's or a set of programminglibraries of some embodiments), and not the user with a set ofaffordance.

In the second stage 1210, the user selects the affordance 1220 to addthe call log to the place card page 1120. The third stage 1215 shows theuser scrolling to the top of the place card page 1120 below the virtualstage in order to reveal a section 1230 with the call log. The call logincludes a list of phone calls to or from the location, including missedand canceled calls.

IV. Adding Contacts from Maps

The mobile device 100 of some embodiments includes a maps applicationthat provides tools to search for a location and save the location as anew contact. FIG. 13 shows an example of creating a new contact using amaps application. Four operational stages 1305-1320 of the mobile device100 are shown in the figure. The mobile device 100 is the same as theone descried above by reference to FIG. 1.

The first stage 1305 illustrates the user selecting the maps icon 125from the home page 175 of the mobile device 100. The second stage 1310shows the maps application displaying a place card 1345 for a location.The place card 1345 is similar to the one described above by referenceto FIG. 1. However, in this example, the place card 1345 includes anaffordance 1350 (e.g., a selectable item such as a button) to add thelocation as a contact.

As shown in the second stage 1310 the user selects the affordance to addthe location as a new contact. The third stage 1315 shows that the mapsapplication of some embodiments allows the user to review and edit thecontact before saving it. In the example of the third stage 1315, theselection of the affordance resulted in a new contact form beingpopulated with data from the shared local cache. The new contact form1325 is also overlaid by a top bar 1355 that includes a done button 1330to save the new contact and a cancel button 1360 to return to theprevious view without saving the new contact.

Third stage 1315 shows the user selecting the done button 1330 to savethe new contact. The fourth stage 1320 shows the maps applicationdisplaying the same place card 1345 after adding the location as a newcontact. The fourth stage 1320 also shows that the maps application ofsome embodiments removes the affordance (e.g., the selectable item) fromthe place card 1345 once the location has been added as a new contact.In some embodiments, the place card shows at least two affordances, oneto create a new contact and another to add data from the place card toan existing contact. These two affordance can be shown simultaneously.

In the example described above, the maps application is used to create anew contact. The maps application of some embodiments provides an optionto add data to an existing contact. In some embodiments, a user'sselection of the option causes an existing contact from a contact listto be filled with one or more pieces of data. For instance, severalmissing fields in the existing contact may be populated using place carddata from the shared local cache.

FIG. 14 shows an example of adding data to an existing contact. Fouroperational stages 1405-1420 of the mobile device 100 are shown in thisfigure. This figure is similar to the previous figure. However, thesecond stage 1410 shows that the place card page 1430 of someembodiments includes an affordance 1450 to add data to an existingcontact. Also, the third stage 1415 shows that a selection of theaffordance causes the mobile device to display a contact list 1455. Theuser can use this list 1455 to choose a particular contact to add datato. The fourth stage 1420 show that the selection of the particularcontact resulted in a display of a contact edit form 1425 instead of anew contact form. The contact edit form 1425 may be populated with oneor more pieces of data from the shared local cache.

FIG. 15 presents a state diagram 1500 that illustrates several exampleprocesses performed by a maps application to save a location as a newcontact or add data to an existing contact. This figure shows elevenstates 1505-1555 that collectively perform these operations. Each of thestates represents a set of one or more processes for performing a subsetof the operations. The eleven states 1505-1555 are a load applicationstate 1505, a waiting state 1510, a retrieved map data state 1515, adisplay map state 1520, a retrieve point of interest (POI) data state1525, a display place card state 1530, a perform other operations state1535, a close app state 1540, a create new contact state 1545, a contactselection state 1550, and an add to existing contact state 1555.

As show in FIG. 15, the maps application initially enters the load appstate 1505. At 10 this state, the maps application might be performing aset of processes to load data. Once the data is loaded, the applicationof some embodiments transitions to a waiting state 1510. At this state1510, the maps application is listening for different events. Forinstance, the maps application might be listening for user input to showa place card, close the maps application, search for a location, switchto a 3D map, enter a navigation mode, etc.

When an input is received to display a location on a map, the mapsapplication of some embodiments transitions to the retrieve map datastate 1515. At this state 1515, the maps application is performing a setof processes to retrieve map data in order to shows the location on themap. In some embodiments, the maps application first determines whethermap data associated with the location is stored in a local cache. If so,the maps application retrieves the map data from the local cache. If thedata is not available, the maps application retrieves the map data froma set of one or more servers and stores it in the local cache.

Upon retrieving the map data, the maps application of some embodimentstransitions to the display map state 1520. At this state 1520, the mapsapplication performs a set of processes to show the location on a map.An example of displaying a location on a map is described above 25 byreference to FIG. 1. Once the map is displayed, the maps application ofsome embodiments returns to the waiting state 1510.

When an input is received to display a place card for a location, themaps application of some embodiments transitions to the retrieve pointof interest (POI) data state 1525. At this state 1525, the mapsapplication is performing a set of processes to retrieve POI data inorder to shows 30 a place card relating to the location. In someembodiments, the maps application first determines whether POI dataassociated with the location is stored in a local cache. In someembodiments, the maps application uses a unique identifier (ID)associated with the location to search the local cache. If the data isstore in the local cache, the maps application retrieves the data fromthe cache. If the data is not available, the maps application retrievesthe data from a set of one or more servers and stores it in the cache.

Upon retrieving the POI data, the maps application of some embodimentstransitions to the display place card state 1530. At this state 1530,the maps application performs a set of processes to show a place cardthat includes data relating to the location. An example of displayingsuch a place card is described above by reference to FIG. 1. Once theplace card is displayed, the maps application of some embodimentsreturns to the waiting state 1510.

When an input to save the location is received, the maps application ofsome embodiments transitions to the create a new contact state 1545. Atthis state 1545, the maps application performs a set of processes tosave the location as a contact. Once the new contact is saved, the mapsapplication of some embodiments returns to the waiting state 1510.

When an input to add data to an existing contact is received, the mapsapplication of some embodiments transitions to the contact selectionstate 1550. At this state, the application of some embodiment performs aset of processes to receive selection of an existing contact. Forinstance, the application might display a contact list from which aperson can choose an existing contact.

When an existing contact is selected, the application of someembodiments transitions to 20 the add data to existing contact state1555. At this state 1555, the maps application performs a set ofprocesses to fill one or more missing pieces of data of an existingcontact. Once the data is filled in, the maps application of someembodiments returns to the waiting state 1510. In some embodiments, themaps application displays different affordances based on the contact ina contacts list (e.g., contacts database). For instance, the place cardpage may only show an affordance to create a new contact if the locationis not already stored in the contacts list, or only show an affordanceto add to an existing contact if the location is already stored in thecontacts list. In some embodiments, the place card page maysimultaneously display two selectable items representing creating a newcontact and adding data to an existing contact.

In some embodiments, the maps application saves one or more pieces ofdata in a contacts list (e.g., a contacts database) based on the datastored in the local cache. For instance, the maps application might savethe unique ID (e.g., POI ID) associated with the location. The mapsapplication might also save other data in the contacts storage, such asa name, one or more phone numbers, address information, etc.

The maps application of some embodiments performs other operations. Forinstance, the maps application may be used to present turn-by-turnnavigation, show traffic, show a 3D map 5 presentation, etc.Accordingly, the state diagram includes the perform other operationsstate 1535. At this state 1535, the maps application performs a set ofprocesses to perform such different tasks. Finally, when an input toclose the maps application is received, the maps application transitionsto the close maps application state 1440. At this stage 1540, the mapsapplication performs a set of processes to close the maps application.

One of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the state diagram1500 simplifies the operations of the maps application in order to placeemphasis on the contact saving feature. In addition, one of ordinaryskill in the art will also realize that the map application in otherembodiments has different states or different state transitions as itoperates differently. Also, in the example described above, the mapsapplication is used to save a new contact. However, the application canbe any application that allows a person to search for a location.

V. Example Phone Application

As mentioned above, the phone application of some embodiments can beused to display a place card relating to a location. Also, as mentionedabove, in some embodiments, the phone application displays a place cardfor a location regardless of whether the location is stored as a contactin a contacts list (e.g., contacts database). In conjunction with theplace card feature or instead of it, the phone application of someembodiments displays the name associated with the location during aphone call regardless of whether the location is stored as a contact ina contacts list. Several such example operations will now be describedbelow by reference to FIGS. 16-18.

FIG. 16 provides an illustrative example of a phone application thatdisplays the name associated with a location even though that locationis not in a contacts list. Three operational stages 1605-1615 the mobiledevice 100 are shown in this figure. The first stage 1605 shows a mapapplication displaying a place card page 145 relating to a restaurant onthe touch-sensitive screen of the mobile device. The place card page 145shows a phone number 1640. To call the phone number, a user of themobile device performs a touch-based gesture by tapping the user'sfinger on the touch-sensitive screen over the phone number. In thisexample, the phone number is not stored in the contacts list as part ofan existing contact.

The second stage 1610 shows the mobile device 100 after the user hasselected the phone number 1640. The selection resulted in the phoneapplication being opened. The second stage shows the phone applicationduring the phone call. The phone application is displaying a call page1645. The call page 1645 includes various selectable items (e.g.,buttons). For instance, the call page includes a mute button, a keypadbutton to show a keypad, a speaker button to output the phone call to aspeaker, an add call button to add a call, a video call to start a videocall, and a contact button to browse contacts. The call page alsoincludes an end button 1625 to end the phone call. Furthermore, the callpage includes a top section that displays information relating to thephone call. The top section shows the name of the restaurant 1620instead f the restaurant's phone number. Underneath the name is also atimer 1650 that shows the duration of the phone call.

In the second stage 1610, the user selects the end button 1625 to endthe phone call. The third stage 1615 shows that the phone application ofsome embodiments displays a page 1655 with the keypad upon ending thephone call. The top section of this keypad page 1655 also shows the lastphone call. Instead of showing the restaurant's phone number, the topsection shows the restaurant's name 1630 even though the phone number isnot stored in the contacts list as part of an existing contact. The topsection also includes a selectable item 1635 to add the location as anew contact to the contacts list.

In the example described above, the phone application displays the nameassociated with a location even though the location has not been savedas a contact in a contacts list. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand that the phone application shown in FIG. 17 is an exampleapplication and that different embodiments might present the locationdifferently. As an example, the phone application may display the phonenumber of the location along with the 25 name of the location. The phoneapplication can present one or more other pieces data relating to thelocation (e.g., by retrieving the data from a local cache).

FIG. 17 provides an illustrative example of a phone application thatdisplays the name of location in a recent call list even though thelocation is not in a contacts list. This figure also shows an example ofhow the phone application displays a place card relating to the locationeven though the location is not in the contacts list.

Three operational stages 1705-1715 of the mobile device 100 are shown inthis figure. The first stage 1705 shows the phone application displayingthe keypad page 1655. The keypad page 1655 is overlaid by a bottom bar1720 that includes a selectable item (e.g., a recent button) to displaya list of recent calls. In the first stage 1705, the user directs themobile device 100 to display the list of recent calls by tapping afinger over the device's touch-screen display over the selectable item1725.

As shown in the second stage 1710, the touch-based gesture caused themobile device 100 to display a recent call page 365 with a list ofrecent calls. The recent call page shows that the location is listed onthe call page 365 with its name instead of with its phone number. Thelocation is also shown with a selectable item 370 (e.g., an informationbutton) to display additional information. In the second stage 1710, theuser selects the selectable item by tapping a finger on the device'stouch-screen display over the selectable item 370. The third stage 1715illustrates that the selection of the selectable item 370 resulted inthe display of a place card page 345. The place card page 345 isdisplayed even though the location is not stored in a contacts list as acontact. In some embodiments, the phone application presents such aplace card only when data relating to the location is stored in a localcache. In other words, the phone application might not access anexternal data source to retrieve the data in order to show the placecard.

The example of the third stage 1715 also shows that the place card 345can include an affordance to add the business entity as a new contact.In some embodiments, the place card might provide an option to add thedata to an existing contact. Examples of adding a new contact andediting an existing contact are described above by reference to FIGS.13-15.

In some embodiments, the phone application shows information relating tothe phone call if the place card data is not stored in the shared localcache. For instance, upon selection of the affordance 370, the phoneapplication might display at least one of the phone number, the time ofthe phone call, duration of the phone call, an indication of whether thecall was canceled, an indication whether the phone call is a missedcall, an option to add the phone number as a new contact, and add thenumber to an existing contact.

FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates an example process 1800 that someembodiments implement to display data relating to a phone call. In someembodiments, the process 1800 is performed by a phone application. Asshown, the process 1800 begins when it receives (at 1805) of a phonenumber of a place. The process 1800 then searches (at 1810) a localcache using the phone number.

At 1815, the process 1800 determines whether a matching phone number isstored in the cache. If the matching phone number is stored in thecache, the process 1800 identifies (at 1825) a name associated with theentry. The process 1800 then displays (at 1830) the name of place. Theprocess 1800 then ends. If the matching phone number is not stored inthe cache, the process 1800 displays (at 1820) the phone number. Theprocess 1800 then ends.

Some embodiments perform variations on the process 1800. The specificoperations of the process 1800 may not be performed in the exact ordershown and described. The specific operations may not be performed in onecontinuous series of operations, and different specific operations maybe performed in different embodiments. Further, the process 1800 couldbe implemented using several sub-processes, or as part of a larger macroprocess.

VI. System Architecture

In several of the examples described above, an application retrievesdata from a shared local cache to display a place card relating to alocation. The application retrieves data from a set of one or moreservers if the data is not stored in the shared local cache. FIG. 19provides an illustrative example of system 1900 for retrieving data froma set of servers and displaying place cards using the retrieved data. Asshown, the system includes the mobile device 100, a geo services server1930, and a set of one or more data servers 1935.

The example system shows the mobile device 100 is a smart phone.However, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that thediscussion in this example is equally applicable to any different typesof machines or electronic devices (e.g., a digital media playerappliance, a gaming system, etc.). The mobile device 100 includesseveral applications 1910. Each application uses a common place carduser interface (UI) 1915 to display data relating to different places.The application accesses a shard local cache 1920 to retrieve datarelating to the location. If the data is not available, the applicationuses a framework 1925 or an application programming interface (API) toaccess an external source and retrieve the data from the externalsource.

In the example of the FIG. 19, the framework 1925 is a map framework andthe external source is a geo services server 1930. The map framework1925 of some embodiments provides an interface for embedding mapsdirectly into application windows and views. The 30 framework 1925 ofsome embodiments also provides support for annotating the map, addingoverlays, and performing reverse-geocoding lookups to determineplacemark information for a given map coordinate. In some embodiments,the framework 1925 defines a set of method calls to retrieve data fromthe geo services server 1930.

The framework 1925 of some embodiments is used to communicate with thegeo services server 1930 using a particular protocol. The protocol ofsome embodiments is flexible in that it can be used to inform the server1930 the types of data that the application 1910 can display. As anexample, in some embodiments, each section of data (e.g., virtual stage,the review sections) is defined as a component of a place card. Theapplication 1910 informs the server 1930 that it supports a place cardthat can display one or more of components. The server then providescomponent data to the application. The ability to inform the server isparticular useful for compatibility reasons. For instance, the placecard may evolve to support various different data types that are notsupported by earlier versions. The server 1930 does not have to figureout what place card version the application is using. Instead, theapplication informs the server that it supports a set of components. Thedata transfer protocol of some embodiments is further described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/292,807, entitled “Protocol forExchanging Data between Two Devices”, filed on May 30, 2014, which isincorporated herein by reference.

In some embodiments, the server 1930 only sends a few data objects forone or more of the components. For instance, the server might only sendsome number of user reviews for a review section, some number ofmultimedia (e.g., photos, video) for a multimedia section, etc. When theapplication request additional data, the server might send a few moredata objects or the remaining data objects. In some embodiments, eachcomponent is associated with a number that identifies all available dataobjects associated with the component. This number may be shown in theplace card itself (e.g., in the heading).

In some embodiments, the server 1930 can control how each component ispresented on the place card UI. For instance, when the applicationinforms the server that these are the components that it can display,the server might send the components and specify the ordering in whichthe components are displayed. In some embodiments, the type of data thatthe place card can display can be expanded by simply defining a newcomponent. In this manner, the place card feature can evolve to includemany different components for different data types that are tailored fordifferent types of locations or point of interests (POIs).

In some embodiments, the geo services server retrieves data from one ormore data sources 1935. For instance, the geo services server 1930 mayrequest data from each data source 1935 on behalf of the application,and send the retrieved data from the data source to the application. Theserver 1930 may also perform some level of filtering to only sendseveral data objects of each component to the application.

The data source can be any data source that provides data to the geoservices server. For instance, the data source can be a server that isassociated with a business review service, a social network service, anevent ticket processing service, upcoming concerts, sporting events, amovie showtime service, a transit information service, a parking servicethat provides data relating to parking spaces that are available at aparking lot, a travel service, etc.

The local cache 1920 of some embodiments stores different groups of dataobjects for different locations. There are numerous different ways toimplement such a cache. For instance, a database can be used, acontainer object can be used, etc. Each group of data objects may beretrieved using a unique identifier (ID). As mentioned above, theapplication of some embodiments uses a POI ID. Alternatively, theapplication of some embodiments uses a phone number as the unique ID.There are numerous different ways to implement such a cache.

One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the softwarearchitecture described above is one example architecture and can bemodified in a number of different ways. For example, instead of oneframework to gather data, the system may include a number of frameworksor APis to gather data from various different data sources. The mobiledevice 100 may communicate directly with one or more of the data serversinstead of communing with them indirectly through the geo servicesserver 1930. For instance, the mobile device operating system of someembodiments includes several APis that can be used to gather data fromdifferent servers associated with different social network services. Thesystem may also retrieve data (e.g., photos, videos, call log) locallyfrom one or more storages. For instance, the mobile device may retrievea call log from a local phone data storage (e.g., database) or phoneapplication cache in order to display the call log on a place card.Also, to simplify the description, the system 1900 only shows one geoservices server 1930. However, there can be a cluster of such geoservices servers.

VII. Electronic Systems

Many of the above-described features and applications are implemented assoftware processes that are specified as a set of instructions recordedon a computer readable storage medium (also referred to as computerreadable medium). When these instructions are executed by one or morecomputational or processing unit(s) (e.g., one or more processors, coresof processors, or other processing units), they cause the processingunit(s) to perform the actions indicated in the instructions. Examplesof computer readable media include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs,flash drives, random access memory (RAM) chips, hard drives, erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc. The computer readablemedia does not include carrier waves and electronic signals passingwirelessly or over wired connections.

In this specification, the term “software” is meant to include firmwareresiding in readonly memory or applications stored in magnetic storage,which can be read into memory for processing by a processor. Also, insome embodiments, multiple software inventions can be implemented assub-parts of a larger program while remaining distinct softwareinventions. In some embodiments, multiple software inventions can alsobe implemented as separate programs. Finally, any combination ofseparate programs that together implement a software invention describedhere is within the scope of the invention. In some embodiments, thesoftware programs, when installed to operate on one or more electronicsystems, define one or more specific machine implementations thatexecute and perform the operations of the software programs.

A. Mobile Device

The applications of some embodiments operate on mobile devices. Theseapplications include the content viewing application, content authoringapplication, content delivery application. FIG. 20 is an example of anarchitecture 2000 of such a mobile computing device. Examples of mobilecomputing devices include smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. As shown,the mobile computing device 2000 includes one or more processing units2005, a memory interface 2010 and a peripherals interface 2015.

The peripherals interface 2015 is coupled to various sensors andsubsystems, including a camera subsystem 2020, a wireless communicationsubsystem(s) 2025, an audio subsystem 2030, an I/O subsystem 2035, etc.The peripherals interface 2015 enables communication between theprocessing units 2005 and various peripherals. For example, anorientation sensor 2045 (e.g., a gyroscope) and an acceleration sensor2050 (e.g., an accelerometer) is coupled to the peripherals interface2015 to facilitate orientation and acceleration functions.

The camera subsystem 2020 is coupled to one or more optical sensors 2040(e.g., a charged coupled device (CCD) optical sensor, a complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, etc.). The camerasubsystem 2020 coupled with the optical sensors 2040 facilitates camerafunctions, such as image and/or video data capturing. The wirelesscommunication subsystem 2025 serves to facilitate communicationfunctions. In some embodiments, the wireless communication subsystem2025 includes radio frequency receivers and transmitters, and opticalreceivers and transmitters (not shown in FIG. 20). These receivers andtransmitters of some embodiments are implemented to operate over one ormore communication networks such as a GSM network, a Wi-Fi network, aBluetooth network, etc. The audio subsystem 2030 is coupled to a speakerto output audio (e.g., to output different sound effects associated withdifferent image operations). Additionally, the audio subsystem 2030 iscoupled to a microphone to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such asvoice recognition, digital recording, etc.

The I/O subsystem 2035 involves the transfer between input/outputperipheral devices, such as a display, a touch screen, etc., and thedata bus of the processing units 2005 through the peripherals interface2015. The I/O subsystem 2035 includes a touch-screen controller 2055 andother input controllers 2060 to facilitate the transfer betweeninput/output peripheral devices and the data bus of the processing units2005. As shown, the touch-screen controller 2055 is coupled to a touchscreen 2065. The touch-screen controller 2055 detects contact andmovement on the touch screen 2065 using any of multiple touchsensitivity technologies. The other input controllers 2060 are coupledto other input/control devices, such as one or more buttons. Someembodiments include a near-touch sensitive screen and a correspondingcontroller that can detect near-touch interactions instead of or inaddition to touch interactions.

The memory interface 2010 is coupled to memory 2070. In someembodiments, the memory 2070 includes volatile memory (e.g., high-speedrandom access memory), non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), acombination of volatile and non-volatile memory, and/or any other typeof memory. As illustrated in FIG. 20, the memory 2070 stores anoperating system 30 (OS) 2072. The OS 2072 includes instructions forhandling basic system services and for performing hardware dependenttasks.

The memory 2070 also includes communication instructions 2074 tofacilitate communicating with one or more additional devices; graphicaluser interface instructions 2076 to facilitate graphic user interfaceprocessing; image processing instructions 2078 to facilitateimage-related processing and functions; input processing instructions2080 to facilitate input-related (e.g., touch input) processes andfunctions; audio processing instructions 2082 to facilitateaudio-related processes and functions; and camera instructions 2084 tofacilitate camera-related processes and functions. The instructionsdescribed above are merely exemplary and the memory 2070 includesadditional and/or other instructions in some embodiments. For instance,the memory for a smartphone may include phone instructions to facilitatephone-related processes and functions. The above-identified instructionsneed not be implemented as separate software programs or modules.Various functions of the mobile computing device can be implemented inhardware and/or in software, including in one or more signal processingand/or application specific integrated circuits.

While the components illustrated in FIG. 20 are shown as separatecomponents, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that two ormore components may be integrated into one or more integrated circuits.In addition, two or more components may be coupled together by one ormore communication buses or signal lines. Also, while many of thefunctions have been described as being performed by one component, oneof ordinary skill in the art will realize that the functions describedwith respect to FIG. 20 may be split into two or more integratedcircuits.

B. Computer System

FIG. 21 conceptually illustrates another example of an electronic system2100 with which some embodiments of the invention are implemented. Theelectronic system 2100 may be a computer (e.g., a desktop computer,personal computer, tablet computer, etc.), phone, PDA, or 25 any othersort of electronic or computing device. Such an electronic systemincludes various types of computer readable media and interfaces forvarious other types of computer readable media. Electronic system 2100includes a bus 2105, processing unit(s) 2110, a graphics processing unit(GPU) 2115, a system memory 2120, a network 2125, a read-only memory2130, a permanent storage device 2135, input devices 2140, and outputdevices 2145.

The bus 2105 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of theelectronic system 2100. For instance, the bus 2105 communicativelyconnects the processing unit(s) 2110 with the read-only memory 2130, theGPU 2115, the system memory 2120, and the permanent storage device 2135.

From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 2110 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of the invention. The processing unit(s) may be a singleprocessor or a multi-core processor in different embodiments. Someinstructions are passed to and executed by the GPU 2115. The GPU 2115can offload various computations or complement the image processingprovided by the processing unit(s) 2110.

The read-only-memory (ROM) 2130 stores static data and instructions thatare needed by the processing unit(s) 2110 and other modules of theelectronic system. The permanent storage device 2135, on the other hand,is a read-and-write memory device. This device is a non-volatile memoryunit that stores instructions and data even when the electronic system2100 is off. Some embodiments of the invention use a mass-storage device(such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) asthe permanent storage device 2135.

Other embodiments use a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk,flash memory device, etc., and its corresponding drive) as the permanentstorage device. Like the permanent storage device 2135, the systemmemory 2120 is a read-and-write memory device. However, unlike storagedevice 2135, the system memory 2120 is a volatile read-and-write memory,such a random access memory. The system memory 2120 stores some of theinstructions and data that the processor needs at runtime. In someembodiments, the invention's processes are stored in the system memory2120, the permanent storage device 2135, and/or the read only memory2130. For example, the various memory units include instructions forprocessing multimedia clips in accordance with some embodiments. Fromthese various memory units, the processing unit(s) 2110 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of some embodiments.

The bus 2105 also connects to the input and output devices 2140 and2145. The input devices 2140 enable the user to communicate informationand select commands to the electronic system. The input devices 2140include alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (also called “cursorcontrol devices”), cameras (e.g., web cams), microphones or similardevices for receiving voice commands, etc. The output devices 2145display images generated by the electronic system or otherwise outputdata. The output devices 2145 include printers and display devices, suchas cathode ray tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD), as well asspeakers or similar audio output devices. Some embodiments includedevices such as a touchscreen that function as both input and outputdevices.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 21, bus 2105 also couples electronic system2100 to a network 2125 through a network adapter (not shown). In thismanner, the computer can be a part of a network of computers (such as alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), or an Intranet,or a network of networks, such as the Internet. Any or all components ofelectronic system 2100 may be used in conjunction with the invention.

Some embodiments include electronic components, such as microprocessors,storage and memory that store computer program instructions in amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (alternatively referred toas computer-readable storage media, machine-readable media, ormachine-readable storage media). Some examples of such computer-readablemedia include RAM, ROM, read-only compact discs (CD-ROM), recordablecompact discs (CD-R), rewritable compact discs (CD-RW), read-onlydigital versatile discs (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual-layer DVDROM), a variety ofrecordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.), flashmemory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SD cards, micro-SD cards, etc.), magneticand/or solid state hard drives, read-only and recordable Blu-Ray® discs,ultra density optical discs, any other optical or magnetic media, andfloppy disks. The computer-readable media may store a computer programthat is executable by at least one processing unit and includes sets ofinstructions for performing various operations. Examples of computerprograms or computer code include 20 machine code, such as is producedby a compiler, and files including higher-level code that are executedby a computer, an electronic component, or a microprocessor using aninterpreter.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, some embodiments areperformed by one or more integrated circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs). In some embodiments, such integrated circuits executeinstructions that are stored on the circuit itself. In addition, someembodiments execute software stored in programmable logic devices(PLDs), ROM, or RAM devices.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer toelectronic or other technological devices. These terms exclude people orgroups of people. For the purposes of the specification, the termsdisplay or displaying means displaying on an electronic device. As usedin this specification and any claims of this application, the terms“computer readable medium,” “computer readable media,” and “machinereadable medium” are entirely restricted to tangible, physical objectsthat store information in a form that is readable by a computer. Theseterms exclude any wireless signals, wired download signals, and anyother ephemeral signals.

While the invention has been described with reference to numerousspecific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. For instance, many of the figuresillustrate various touch gestures (e.g., taps, double taps, swipegestures, press and hold gestures, etc.). However, many of theillustrated operations could be performed via different touch gestures(e.g., a swipe instead of a tap, etc.) or by non-touch input (e.g.,using a cursor controller, a keyboard, a touchpad/trackpad, a near-touchsensitive screen, etc.). In addition, a number of the figures (includingFIGS. 5, 8, 9, 15, and 18) conceptually illustrate processes. Thespecific operations of these processes may not be performed in the exactorder shown and described. The specific operations may not be performedin one continuous series of operations, and different specificoperations may be performed in different embodiments. Furthermore, theprocess could be implemented using several sub-processes, or as part ofa larger macro process. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand that the invention is not to be limited by the foregoingillustrative details, but rather is to be defined by the appendedclaims.

While the invention has been described with reference to numerousspecific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. For example, one of ordinary skill inthe art will understand that many of the UI items of FIGS. 1-4, 6, 7,10A, 10B, 13, 16, and 17 can also be activated and/or set by a cursorcontrol device (e.g., a mouse or trackball), a stylus, keyboard, afinger gesture (e.g., placing, pointing, tapping one or more fingers)near a near-touch sensitive screen, or any other control system in someembodiments. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would understandthat the invention is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrativedetails, but rather is to be defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readablemedium, comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed byone or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to: render agraphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises: a map; and aselectable indication pertaining to a location within the map; detect aselection of the selectable indication; in response to detecting theselection, render, in the GUI, a place card providing particularinformation pertaining to the location; render, in the place card, aselectable sharing option to share the location; detect selection of theselectable sharing option to share the location; and in response todetecting the selection of the selectable sharing option, share arepresentation of the location to an electronic device or service. 2.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein therepresentation of the location comprises a selectable thumbnail that,when selected, causes rendering of a copy of the place card.
 3. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, comprisingcomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors of the computer, cause the computer to: upon detection of theselection of the selectable sharing option, provide a sharing menu inthe GUI, the sharing menu providing a plurality of channel affordances,each channel affordance corresponding to one of a plurality of sharingchannels with which the location can be shared; and upon detection ofone of the plurality of channel affordances, facilitate sharing of therepresentation of the location via a channel corresponding to the one ofthe plurality of channel affordances.
 4. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the plurality of channelaffordances comprise a text message affordance for sharing therepresentation of the location via a text message channel.
 5. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein theplurality of channel affordances comprise an email message affordancefor sharing the representation of the location via an email channel. 6.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein theplurality of channel affordances comprise a social media post affordancefor sharing the representation of the location via a social mediaposting channel.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim3, wherein the plurality of channel affordances comprise a nearby deviceaffordance for sharing the representation of the location via a channelto a nearby device.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 1, comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executedby the one or more processors of the computer, cause the computer to:receive a shared representation of a second location on a second map. 9.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein theshared representation comprises a thumbnail image of the second locationon the second map.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 9, comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executedby the one or more processors of the computer, cause the computer to:detect a selection of the shared representation of the second location;and in response to detecting the selection of the shared representationof the second location, rendering a second place card providingparticular information pertaining to the second location.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, comprisingcomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors of the computer, cause the computer to: detect selection of amap option in the second place card; and upon selection of the mapoption in the second place card, render a third map comprising thesecond location.
 12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:rendering a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises: amap; and a selectable indication pertaining to a location within themap; detecting a selection of the selectable indication; in response todetecting the selection, generating, in the GUI, a place card providingparticular information pertaining to the location rendering, in theplace card, a selectable sharing option to share the location; detectingselection of the selectable sharing option to share the location; and inresponse to detecting the selection of the selectable sharing option,sharing a representation of the location to an electronic device orservice.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein therepresentation of the location comprises a selectable thumbnail that,when selected, causes rendering of a copy of the place card.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 12, comprising: upon detection ofthe selection of the selectable sharing option, providing a sharing menuin the GUI, the sharing menu providing a plurality of channelaffordances, each channel affordance corresponding to one of a pluralityof sharing channels with which the location can be shared; and upondetection of one of the plurality of channel affordances, facilitatingsharing of the representation of the location via a channelcorresponding to the one of the plurality of channel affordances. 15.The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the plurality ofchannel affordances comprise: a text message affordance for sharing therepresentation of the location via a text message channel; an emailmessage affordance for sharing the representation of the location via anemail channel; a social media post affordance for sharing therepresentation of the location via a social media posting channel; anearby device affordance for sharing the representation of the locationvia a channel to a nearby device; or any combination thereof.
 16. Anelectronic device, comprising: a display; a processor; a tangible,non-transitory, storage device, comprising processor-readableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto: render a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises:a map; a selectable indication pertaining to a location within the map;detect a selection of the selectable indication; and in response todetecting the selection, generate, in the GUI, a place card providingparticular information pertaining to the location; render, in the placecard, a selectable sharing option to share the location; detectselection of the selectable sharing option to share the location; and inresponse to detecting the selection of the selectable sharing option,sharing a representation of the location to an electronic device orservice.
 17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the storagedevice comprises processor-readable instructions that, when executed bythe processor, cause the processor to: in response to detecting theselection of the selectable sharing option, providing a sharing menu inthe GUI, the sharing menu providing a plurality of channel affordances,each channel affordance corresponding to one of a plurality of sharingchannels with which the location can be shared; and in response todetecting one of the plurality of channel affordances, sharing aselectable thumbnail of the location to an electronic device or service,wherein the selectable thumbnail, when selected by the electronic deviceor service, causes rendering of a copy of the place card.
 18. Theelectronic device of claim 17, wherein the plurality of channelaffordances comprise: a text message affordance for sharing theselectable thumbnail of the location via a text message channel; anemail message affordance for sharing the selectable thumbnail of thelocation via an email channel; a social media post affordance forsharing the selectable thumbnail of the location via a social mediaposting channel; a nearby device affordance for sharing the selectablethumbnail of the location via a channel to a nearby device; or anycombination thereof.
 19. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein thestorage device comprises processor-readable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to: receive a sharedrepresentation of a second location on a second map, wherein the sharedrepresentation comprises a selectable thumbnail image of the secondlocation on the second map.
 20. The electronic device of claim 19,wherein the storage device comprises processor-readable instructionsthat, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: detect aselection of the selectable thumbnail image of the second location onthe second map; and in response to detecting the selection of theselectable thumbnail image of the second location on the second map,render a second place card providing particular information pertainingto the second location.